Chesco music teacher who allegedly abused students faces additional charges

Anton Fomin, second from left, a former teacher at the Malvern School of Music, is led out of Magisterial District Judge Thomas Tartaglio’s court in East Goshen Township by constables and Malvern Police Chief Lou Marcelli (far right). (Photo by Tom Kelly IV/21st Century Media)

MALVERN — A piano teacher accused of sexually abusing his students is facing additional felony charges after three more alleged victims came forward, according to court records.

On Wednesday, Chester County Detectives filed 10 additional felonies against 44-year-old music instructor Anton Fomin, a former instructor at the Malvern School of Music, after two 6-year-olds and an 11-year-old reported alleged abuse.

In a criminal complaint filed by investigators, detectives say the children reported that Fomin showed them photographs of nude children during private piano lessons on at least five occasions between August 2013 and this month.

All of the alleged offenses took place at the Malvern School of Music in the 100 block of East King Street, according to the criminal complaint.

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On Thursday, school owner David Stoltzfus said he was “shocked and devastated” by the allegations and expressed grief for the victims.

“I just want to say how profoundly grief-stricken I am for the victims and their families. It makes my heart ache, it really does,” Stoltzfus said.

Stoltzfus said he received the first allegation of abuse at the school on June 5. He immediately went to police, and with the help of law enforcement crafted a communication to the families of every school student. He also made sure Fomin was gone, Stoltzfus said.

“From the moment I knew about the allegations, he never taught another lesson at the school, of course,” Stoltzfus said.

Fomin’s former employer declined to comment on the suspect’s character, but did say he never had the slightest suspicion of inappropriate behavior.

“I never would have allowed him near those children if I had,” Stoltzfus said. “At the end of the day, this is just such a terrible, terrible thing.”

Fomin also taught private lessons out of his East Pikeland home, and after his initial arrest, law enforcement officials warned there could be many more victims.

The new charges raise the total number of alleged victims to six, according to investigators. The investigation began after a parent of a 6-year-old girl contacted the Malvern Police Department on June 4. The child was one of Fomin’s piano students, and she told police that he had touched her inappropriately during one-on-one piano lessons at the school.

After the initial report was made, two other 6-year-old children came forward and reported similar abuse, according to the complaint. Both victims, a boy and a girl, told police that Fomin exposed himself during private piano lessons and also showed them pictures of nude children and adults on his computer.

Investigators later executed a search warrant on Fomin’s residence and allegedly found images of nude children and adults, including himself, on his personal computer.

Fomin worked at the Malvern Music School for about four years and also taught private lessons at his home, officials said. His position at the music school was terminated when the allegations arose.

Fomin faces an additional 10 felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and disseminating explicit sexual material to a minor, according to court records. He remains in Chester County Prison on $300,000 cash bail in connection to the earlier charges.